Preview of the Scotland v Denmark match
Scotland hope to make the most of an unexpected second chance by hosting Denmark in a winner-takes-all contest tomorrow night.
Steve Clarke’s side lost 3-2 in Greece on Saturday night in a match they felt they needed to at least draw to maintain a chance of automatic qualification for the World Cup.
But Denmark’s surprise 2-2 draw at home to Group C favorites Belarus means the Scots can qualify with victory at Hampden Park.
They start the final day one point behind Brian Riemer’s men, who were booed by furious fans in Copenhagen this weekend after a dismal performance.
Veteran goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who had not played for six months after being relegated to a substitute role at Hearts, turned back the clock with a fine display against Greece and will likely return to Hampden tomorrow.
The 42-year-old said: “We’re still in it. And it’s now going to be one of the biggest games I’ve ever been a part of. It’s just massive.
“We’re a little bit lucky to get another chance, but it’s up to us now to take it. We wanted to be alive going to Hampden and it happened. It happened in a way we didn’t expect. We just have to try and enjoy it now.”
Making a World Cup team would be a remarkable achievement at the end of a long career for Gordon.
He added: “It would mean everything to me (to qualify), absolutely everything.
“It actually makes me quite emotional just thinking about it. We gave ourselves a chance and we really need to focus now and prepare as best we can to get there. To qualify for a World Cup, considering it hasn’t been done in so long, would be something special. Nobody has done it since 1998, so to get our fans back there would be incredible.”
Denmark boss Riemer remains confident despite his side inflating their lines on Saturday.
“They [Scotland] They are a team to take seriously, but we have more quality,” he said. “However, not much has to go wrong before they can compete with us. We must therefore achieve an excellent performance to ensure our qualification for the World Cup.
“I expect them to fire hard from the start, but then they will become the Scottish team we know. If the tie persists at the end, they will try to take their chances. That’s how I imagine the match will go.
“I think they have nothing to worry about if they haven’t necessarily decided the game after 10 minutes. If it’s 0-0 with 15 minutes to go, they’ll have to give it their all.”
Team news for Scotland vs Denmark
There was a bug in the Denmark camp. Forward Rasmus Hojlund missed the match against Belarus and trained alone yesterday. He will be on the plane to Glasgow but is unlikely to leave.
